


take you home (to me)

by nalbwanalbwa



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Chilhood Friends AU, M/M, OngNielWink, high school/college au, nielwink, ongwink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 08:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nalbwanalbwa/pseuds/nalbwanalbwa
Summary: Sungwoo is tired being the oldest one, he is done being the voice of reason – but what choices does he have,when he loves one of them with all his being, and is hopelessly in love with another?





	take you home (to me)

**Author's Note:**

> ongnielwink, end-game undecided (you probably have to vote lol), probably around 5k? posting in parts so this is 1/5, probably.

It was one of these days that had Sungwoo wondered why he bothered with college at all – amidst the lab sessions that took the whole day as if he had no other classes to attend, an embodiment of clueless junior from hell had somehow appeared in form of 187 cm Kwon Hyunbin, who managed to mess up an assignment for their elective course that was due at 8 am the next day and made Sungwoo having to forget about attending classes at all.

And so, he had been running around the campus for past 12 hours, completed two experiments and failed three, ditched all two classes scheduled for the day, and saved an assignment worth 20% of the course grade – a productive day, indeed.

He had survived the day solely by cans of coffee and the unhealthy dose of sugar in them, though and now that he finally made it to his studio apartment, he was now lining up the choices of ramyeon he would have for his first meal of the day at 9.30 pm, the highlight of his day indeed.

(Kwon Hyunbin had invited him for dinner with promising treats of grilled meats, but Sungwoo decided he had enough Hyunbin for a day; no matter how good-natured the boy was actually.)

His phone vibrated just as he was putting the pot filled with water on the stove, and he ignored it to turn on the stove anyway, thinking that it was probably just a stream of texts from just some other annoying friends. The vibration persisted, however, and he glanced at the phone just to see the screen lighted up with an incoming call.

**_Jihoonie’s Mom_ **

 

He answered the call with a tentative “Hello?”, unsure of what to expect because while he had always been in regular contact with the middle-aged woman that was his home neighbor, it was quite a peculiar hour to call for a casual catching-up.

“ _Sungwoo-ya, I’m sorry for calling you like this…”_

It was starting to drizzle when Sungwoo ran across the crosswalk, the green light for pedestrian turning red just as his feet left the asphalt and honks blaring as he made his way to the other side of the road.  A motorcyclist yelled at him, probably – he could not be sure because it was the voice of Jihoon’s mom that was still ringing in his ears.

“ _It’s probably nothing, he’s probably just staying with his friends but it has been three days since he didn’t come home, and I couldn’t contact his phone either so I got a little worried – I’ve hoped he has been staying with you…”_

“Park Jihoon, that little brat,” Sungwoo hissed to himself at the thought.

Park Jihoon had always been a brat as far as Sungwoo could remember. Having blessed with face of an angel, Jihoon had been good at acting like one too around people; and yet he is equally good at making the closest to him exasperated. Sungwoo had called him out for the double farce many times, and all Jihoon did was to laugh, mouth opened widely, eyes crinkling. 

“But hyung, you love me anyway, right?”

And Sungwoo would make a face each time, much to Jihoon’s amusement. He was right, anyway. People could not help but to adore Jihoon, and Sungwoo, who had grown alongside him, and watched him grow up, is not an exception.

“ _Did he really not contact you at all?_ ”

The thing about parents was they always came to think that their children would stay close friends with the same kids from 10 years ago, while in reality, friendships barely worked that way. Sungwoo had not heard from Jihoon for a while, and he had not even realized it until Jihoon’s mom brought it up. The third year of any engineering course in any college in any part of the word, was a certified hell, and Jihoon was in final year of high school, which was, in South Korea at least, a purgatory of another level. Perhaps he should have checked up on Jihoon, Sungwoo berated himself, but amidst his workload – when would he even have time?

It was not a complete fall-out, or Sungwoo would just leave the phone call from Jihoon’s mother at “I have no idea, I haven’t heard from him.” – because Jihoon was not simply a kid that had attended Sungwoo’s primary school, or a kid he played with at times at local playgrounds. Jihoon was a kid Sungwoo had walked with to primary school, and walked home with, and as years passed by, a kid Sungwoo always had to keep an eye at the back of his head for as a habit. After all, he was three years older, and Jihoon, 12 years ago or now, was still a little brat.

That was why Sungwoo thought he probably had an idea of Jihoon’s whereabout. They might have grown apart recently but Sungwoo at least knew that Jihoon did not have many close friends, and there was none that Jihoon was comfortable enough to stay for two nights with. He did not tell this to Jihoon’s mother in case it would worry her more but he did promise he would try to find the boy, much to her relief.

He hoped Jihoon really was at this place he was thinking of, or he might need to take the night bus to Busan and on top of the gastric pain that had started to creep into a heartburn, Sungwoo prayed it would not turn to that.

 

In front of another crosswalk, of which Sungwoo had not been lucky enough this time and thus had to wait for the cars to zoom past, was a row of shops that mostly had closed for the day, except for the small corner lot. There was a bench outside of the shop – a fried chicken restaurant, to be exact – and as Sungwoo walked towards the street, he could almost see an image of three boys huddled together on the bench, counting their allowances and wondering how much chicken they could afford for the day.

He was a few steps away from the door when it opened, and an old woman stepped out, just like in his memory, her hair now greyer yet her face still as kind.

“I was wondering when would you come.”

Sungwoo smiled, it was probably his most sincere one since a while, and when the shop owner stepped aside to let him in, he realized that the restaurant was pretty much empty except for a single table in the corner. He let out a breath he had not realized holding, and relief washed over his whole body. His stomach, however, growled in pain as if as a reminder of why he was here on the first place.  

“Hey, Park _fucking_ Jihoon!”

 

 

* * *

 

_“This is my son, Sungwoo – say hi, Sungwoo.”_

_Sungwoo bowed to the cooing woman, no older than his own mother, and their new neighbor that has just moved to the vacant house next two doors from theirs. It was summer, and the day was surprisingly not as scorching as it had been past few days, but the late afternoon sun still did not make Sungwoo want to stay outdoor any longer than required and all he wanted to do was to return to his game and air-conditioner._

_His mother’s tight grip on his shoulder had bigger say on the matter, though._

_“This is my youngest – baby, greet your new hyung friend, please – sorry, he’s still a bit miffed about the whole moving thing,” Sungwoo heard the neighbor say, her tone apologetic, which Sungwoo’s mom responded with kind, understanding dismissal and something about kids always being kids._

_Sungwoo almost did not notice the child, to tell the truth. The little boy was practically hiding behind his mother’s frame and it took some time to coax him out of it. Sungwoo’s mother gasped softly as the boy raised his head for the first time to take a look at his new neighbors._

_“Oh my – isn’t he the most adorable thing?”_

_Indeed, Sungwoo thought, his mother was barely exaggerating. Sungwoo was two heads taller, and the boy was chubby against Sungwoo’s lanky body, his hair curly as opposed to Sungwoo’s short jagged hair – but those large, doe eyes that were darting between Sungwoo and his mother alternately were nothing like anything Sungwoo had seen before that he almost wanted to ask if they were real._

_“He’s just turned 6 last month,” the boy’s mother said as she nudges her son slightly. “Say your greetings, please, Jihoonie. This is Miyeon-ahjumma, and this is Sungwoo-hyung.”_

_The boy – Jihoonie – bowed low at the two of them, and when his back straightened again, Sungwoo realized that those full cheeks were rosy; was it the heat or the blood rush? It was adorable nonetheless, and Sungwoo had an immediate urge to tease the boy about it but restrained himself._

_Much to his surprise, the boy held out his hand, short arm extending towards Sungwoo._

_“I’m Park Jihoon.”_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> That was pretty bad even by my standards, I'm really sorry for that (I haven't been writing for months but I just /need/ to write this.) I swear it will get more interesting once the plot rolls in heh. Do tell me what you think, though - and thank you for reading!


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